Ethiopia's age-old culture

Traditional dancers at Habesha Restaurant.

Despite often depressing reports emanating from Ethiopia, there are many fine things to be enjoyed there as PETER MUIRURI found out

The air was heavy with clouds when the Ethiopian Airlines plane landed at Bole International Airport. However, any dull moments were immediately banished the moment I stepped in the clean, ultra modern, glass clad terminal building that could easily be mistaken for a Five-star hotel by a first time visitor.

Being Kenyan and thus in no need of a visitor’s visa, I was plucked out of a long queue of visa applicants and cleared in a matter of minutes, much to the consternation of those waiting. Courteous airport staff helped with luggage without expecting anything in return.

The famed hospitality of Ethiopians was already on display here. As I struggled to exhibit mutual feelings, my conversation here began and ended with the only Amharic word I had mastered from Selamta, the in-flight magazine — amesege’nallo’, thank you. Nevertheless, I would need more than this single phrase to navigate my way around Addis Ababa, or ‘new flower’ in the local dialect.

Ethiopia is a country that has in the past been in the news for all the wrong reasons. Enduring images of hunger stricken citizens were beamed across the globe courtesy of the late renowned Kenyan photographer Mohamed Amin. If it is not hunger, then it is the never-ending friction with its eastern neighbour, Eritrea, in a conflict that cost thousands of human life.

In this din of depressive reports, a few superlatives about the country have been ignored, things that I discovered in my recent visit to the country.

As your history teacher told you, Ethiopia is the oldest independent country in Africa and one of the most populous. In fact, it is among those with the oldest civilisations in the world, dating back thousands of years before Christ. With close to 80 distinct ethnic groups, Ethiopia is perhaps one of the countries in Africa that takes great pride in the preservation of its age old culture.

Take music for example. Addis Ababa, the capital seems to be the melting pot and custodian of the country’s rich heritage.

In every one of the many entertainment joints that I visited, local music was the in thing. Live bands outdid each other belting out Amharic, Tigray or Orominya tunes much to the delight of patrons.

 In Habesha Restaurant along Bole Road, various local artistes put on eccentric shows that required little prompting for patrons to jump on stage, never mind that Ethiopian tongues are not the easiest to comprehend. As my guide on the visit put it, “Ethiopian lyrics sound the same till you listen to the pulsating beat.” How I wished our local eateries would replicate this and play Kenya’s traditional music that as of now seems to be the preserve of the Bomas of Kenya.

Coffee date

Music is not the only glue that binds Ethiopians together. As a Kenyan, you may not have given much thought as to how you partake of your food and drink. Not so in Ethiopia. As I found out, a simple task such as taking coffee is wrought with many customs.

As we exit Habesha, we set off to test  the hospitality repertoire at the famous Fasicha National Restaurant. I am more interested in tasting their famed buna or coffee.

At the entrance, a woman sits on a traditional stool while an aluminium kettle lay on a hot charcoal stove. Beside her, tens of small ceramic cups awaited thirsty patrons. The entire apparatus is set on strong scented grasses. 

However, it will be a while before our fist sip of coffee – at least not before the elaborate “coffee ceremony” is conducted.

Mesfin, my long time Ethiopian friend calms my nerves, admonishing me for my “impatient Kenyan behaviour.” I was in their town and had to bow down to the customs. When you are in Rome do as Romans do…

Soon, the aromatic smell of freshly roasted coffee beans, coupled with that of the scented grass fills the air. To soothe our minds, the lady passes the pan with the hot coffee beans around our table where we take turns taking in the therapeutic odour. Satisfied, the lady grinds the coffee using a tool similar to a mortar and pestle. The ground beans are then added to the hot water on the stove. Our black coffee is ready for serving.

As Mesfin points out, I am fortunate that the ceremony took place at a restaurant. This ritual, one of the top Ethiopian honours bestowed an important visitor can take close to two hours!

A night out in Addis is not complete without a taste of yet another locally brewed drink, tej, a honey wine flavoured with the powdered leaves and twigs of a local, hop-like plant. Consumed using a rounded glass flask, tej is sold in almost every eatery in the city and has a deceptive sweet taste that masks it alcoholic content. Moderation is the key.

Addis is also a city replete with historical artefacts, mostly preserved in the National Museum of Ethiopia. The museum hosts what has been termed as the most significant archaeological find in the country, Lucy, the Australopithecus afarensis hominid claimed to be 3.5 million years old. Archaeologists Donald Johanson and Tom Gray named her Lucy after the Beatles song, Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds.

But wait a minute; you will not see the ‘real’ Lucy in the museum. As the curator informs me, her bones are very fragile and are stored in a special safe within the museum. Casts, he says,  have been made of her for display purposes.

Hanging in the museum too, are oil paintings of some of the well known Ethiopian rulers including Haile Selassie. 

Biblical links

Talking of historical relics, my guide informs me that Ethiopia has the remains of the legendary Queen of Sheba who is said to have paid a visit to the country during the reign of the Biblical King Solomon. The country is also said to be the custodian of the Ark of the Covenant in Axum, a city located almost 1,000 kilometres north of the capital. These stories are told and retold in Ethiopia though hard evidence is hard to come by. In my brief visit, I have no intention of confirming these legends.

Ethiopia’s culture will not be replete without mentioning their universal dress code. While her southern neighbour has had an endless struggle to come up with a national dress, Ethiopia has the noticeable traditional costume made of woven cotton.

Wherever you go, both men and women will be seen wearing this traditional costume called gabbi or netella. The cloth is woven in long strips which are then sewn together with some adding shiny threads to enhance the fabric’s look.

My visit to a shop on the outskirts of Addis reveals that it may take two or three weeks to make enough cloth for just one dress! What a price to pay for enhancing ones’ culture.

Before my departure to Nairobi, my host takes me on a road trip to Kuriftu, a beautiful, countryside haven set on a small lake east of the capital where horse drawn chariots are the main means of transport for the local community. Despite its modern look, the entire Ethiopian culture is once again on display at Kuriftu.

As I leave the country, I cannot help but wonder how much of our culture we are losing along the way to modernisation.